Marino Watches As Dolphins Win, 23-10

The Pittsburgh Steelers made good on a promise and knocked Dan Marino out of the game, but they could do little against the Miami Dolphins’ defense.

Miami forced five turnovers Monday night in a 23-10 victory that was tainted when Marino bruised his chest late in the third quarter. The severity of the injury wasn’t immediately known, and the 34-year-old quarterback watched the end of the game in uniform from the sideline.

Marino left the game after he was tackled by linebacker Greg Lloyd, who had said he would try to knock Miami’s quarterback “into next week.”

The Dolphins improved to 3-0 and gained an early edge in the battle for playoff home-field advantage. Pittsburgh, which reached the AFC championship game last season, fell to 2-1.

Three Pittsburgh turnovers led to 17 Miami points, and two ended scoring threats. J.B. Brown made two interceptions, including one to stop the Steelers at the Miami 8-yard line with four minutes left.

The Dolphins outscored their three opponents 95-27, and the defense has allowed just two touchdowns while totaling 14 takeaways.

“Our defense has been playing well,” Shula said. “We want to continue to get better every week and play the kind of defense we think we’re capable of - championship defense.”

Lloyd chased down Marino from behind and tackled him after the pass - a 15-yard completion - was thrown. Marino went down and appeared to jam his right shoulder on the infield dirt. He rolled over in obvious pain, grabbed Lloyd’s jersey with his left hand and said something to the linebacker.

The crowd booed, but no penalty was called.

Bernie Kosar replaced Marino and went 4 of 4 for 41 yards to complete an 85-yard drive that resulted in a field goal for a 23-3 lead.

On Pittsburgh’s first play after Marino went out, Cox leveled quarterback Jim Miller after he threw. That produced a roar from the crowd of 72,874, the largest to attend a Dolphins game at Joe Robbie Stadium.

Another big ovation came when Marino returned to the bench from the locker room with 11 minutes left.

The defense set up all three Miami scores in the first half with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. The Dolphins took a 17-3 halftime lead with scoring drives of 41, 17 and 21 yards.

Marino completed 16 of 27 attempts for 183 yards with one touchdown, a 28-yarder to Terry Kirby. Pete Stoyanovich kicked field goals of 37, 39 and 21 yards.

The Dolphins shut down Mike Tomczak, who threw for a career-high 343 yards in an overtime victory against Miami last year. This time he completed just 11 of 24 passes for 104 yards with two interceptions before leaving the game in the fourth quarter.

Miller threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Ernie Mills with 8 minutes left, then drove the Steelers to the Miami 8 on their next possession with 4 minutes remaining. Brown then intercepted a fourth-down pass in the end zone.i

Interceptions by Brown and Troy Vincent set up Miami’s first two scores, a 37-yard field goal by Stoyanovich and a 2-yard run by Bernie Parmalee.

Brown’s first interception ended a Steelers’ threat after they reached the Miami 38.

The Steelers drove 55 yards to the Miami 7 in the second quarter, but a sack and an offensive pass interference penalty pushed them back, and Norm Johnson kicked a 40-yard field goal to make the score 10-3.

Pittsburgh took possession at its own 17 with 1:33 left in the first half and appeared willing to run out the clock, but John L. Williams fumbled on the first play, and Miami’s Jeff Cross recovered. On third-and-17, Kirby beat linebacker Chad Brown over the middle, caught Marino’s pass and ran the final 15 yards to score with 47 seconds remaining.

Kirby was making his first start since undergoing knee surgery last September.